Chapter 22

Tina sat back in her plush leather chair and rocked slowly as she drifted deep into her own thoughts.

“So if we come in under budget with this documentary, then we can fund that new film I was approached about,” Helena said watching Tina’s eyes glaze over as she clicked her pen randomly. “I was very serious when I said I wanted to get the sole rights to it and make it our first priority.”

“Uh huh,” Tina muttered barely noting the silence that grew between her and Helena.

“I was also thinking that in order to save money,” Helena said with a smile on her face seeing that Tina wasn’t paying attention to her statement. “I’ll just make you do all the nude scenes in the action film as well as the stunts. That way, we won’t have to hire it out. Are you opposed to being set on fire?”

“Not at all,” Tina muttered as she continued clicking her pen.

Helena snapped her fingers in front of Tina’s face to bring her out of her daze.

“What?”

“You tell me, you just agreed to be set on fire to save us money. What’s going on?”

“I did what?” Tina asked confused.

“Skip over that and go directly to what’s wrong. I’ve got a busy schedule and since I’ve wasted most of the evening in here talking to someone that hasn’t heard a word I’ve said, I’m now behind.”

“I’m sorry,” Tina said sincerely. She rocked herself into an upright position and put her elbows on the desk in front of her. Resting her head in her hands, Tina took a deep breath and closed her eyes to force herself to relax.

“I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me.”

“It’s Angelica,” Tina said sadly.

“Well this should be easier then I thought. She’s a wonderful child just give her time.”

“You don’t even know what she’s done,” Tina said stunned.

“It typically applies to most situations with her,” Helena said smiling.

When Tina scowled at her and began looking sad, Helena laughed and set her notes down to give Tina her full attention.

“OK, so what’s going on now with my niece?”

“Where to even begin?” Tina muttered sadly.

“If you’re waiting for me to ask you to lay down on a couch and divulge your entire childhood to me for an obscene amount of money, we’ll be here a very long time.”

“We wouldn’t want that now would we?” Tina shot back. “We had an exhausting weekend with her talking about our past so she’ll stop asking others about it and accept what we’ve become to be.”

“Yes, Alice mentioned a family bonding moment between the three of you this weekend. Something about ‘feeling on the outside looking in’ because she had nothing better to do with her weekend and wanted focused entertainment.”

“Being at Alice’s beck and call to entertain her would have been easier. We ended up not bonding when she stormed off hearing about Candace.”

“Why in bloody hell would you tell her what happened with Candace?”

“Because she has a right to know,” Tina said in defense of their decision.

“No she doesn’t. She’s a child Tina, she simply needs to know that you aren’t going to cave into her demands to know every detail. I’ve always said that some things are better left unsaid.”

“Says the woman that caved within record time when Angie came asking questions.”

“That’s different,” Helena smiled coyly. “I was taken completely off guard but you’ve had time to prepare.”

“I suppose,” Tina said rubbing her temples to try to ward off a headache.

“So what’s bothering you more? Is it that you’re reliving your past with Bette or that you’re afraid of your daughter being hurt by your admissions?”

“It would of course be that I don’t like hurting Angie,” Tina said avoiding Helena’s gaze.

“That’s what I thought,” Helena said in a smug tone.

“Exactly what does that mean?”

“It means that you’ve never gotten over her and reliving the past also tends to drudge up the loving moments as well.”

“That has nothing to do with it.”

“You forget Tina, I know you better then most.”

“Thanks for reminding me of that,” Tina said as she rolled her eyes. “That didn’t go over well with your niece either.”

“Sadly I had hoped it would if she could see that I did my best to love you with everything I had.”

“I really messed things up where we were concerned didn’t I?”

“I truly didn’t expect anything different,” Helena said with a saddened smile. “We’ve moved past it and for that I am eternally grateful.”

“Why is it so hard being a parent?”

“Because if it were easy it wouldn’t mean as much.”

“You seem to do it with ease.”

“Hardly,” Helena laughed at Tina’s statement. “I’m lucky enough to have wonderful children that manage to reflect more of their good parts then my bad ones. Winnie, surprisingly, did a wonderful job in making excuses for the lack of time I spent with them when they were growing up.”

“Did I ever tell you about the day I decided to allow Bette to be part of Angie’s life? It had more to do with you then you know.”

“How is that?”

“It was when we were seeing one another and you failed to return your kids to New York on time.”

“Ah yes, one of my better memories, having my ex walk in on a private moment between us.”

“It was on a balcony, it wasn’t meant to be private was it?”

“What did that have to do with Angie?”

“I saw Bette’s side of things through you,” Tina said as she smiled at her friend. “When I saw how hurt you were not having rights to Wilson, I realized that I was doing the same thing to Bette and how unfair it was.”

“I’m sure Bette didn’t see it that way or she’s late on giving me a huge debt of gratitude,” Helena said as silence fell between the old friends. “So what degree of anger are we talking about when my niece stormed out of the room upon hearing the Candace saga?”

“Ultimate anger, which I knew would happen.”

“Why open old wounds then?”

“It’s complicated,” Tina said as she leaned back losing the battle with her headache.

“Try me.”

“You’re as bad as Angie is!”

“No, I have an understanding of what’s bothering you. She has questions, there in lies the difference. I think I know what’s bothering you.”

“I’m sure you do,” Tina said making eye contact with Helena. “It isn’t hard to see what’s bothering me.”

“It’s the good memories that you miss that are reeking havoc on your nerves.”

“That’s insane,” Tina balked.

“Not as insane as you want me to believe.”

“What bothers me is that I have yet to tell her about Henry.”

“Oh,” Helena said changing her mind on what was really bothering Tina. “To think I thought it was the loving moments with Bette that had you in a state of confusion.”

“I’m not confused about Bette,” Tina said. “I’m afraid of Angie’s reaction to the news that I went back to men for a period of time.”

“Then don’t tell her.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is,” Helena began. “There’s nothing good that can come out of explaining your state of mind when you completely lost it and dated Henry. It’s in the past and has no bearing on her unless you are at the crossroads again between being a lesbian and being a heterosexual.”

“I have to,” Tina said sadly. “I already told her that it wasn’t Bette that left me when she was born. I told her that I left Bette but didn’t get into the details of why.”

“How did you escape the inquisition?”

“Jealous?”

“Extremely after what she put me through,” Helena said in a serious tone making Tina chuckle.

Tina reached into her desk drawer pulling out two aspirin and downing them with a sip of Helena’s Perrier water.

“So there’s nothing to Alice’s theory then is what you’re telling me?”

“What is Alice’s theory now?”

“That it’s hard on you to discuss what happened because it causes feelings to resurface that neither you nor Bette have been able to put away for the other.”

“That’s absurd,” Tina said feeling guilty at the denial to one of her close friends.

“For the record,” Helena said standing up and gathering her things to head to her own office to actually accomplish something for the day. “If her theory were to be right, I’d be very happy for you. But if it truly is that you don’t know how to approach the lost months we call ‘the Henry abyss’, then consider not doing it. Bette already divulged her relationship errors regarding Candace and received a negative reaction. I don’t think that it makes much sense to get into something so complicated as what you were struggling with when you left her for Henry because if Angie didn’t understand Candace, she won’t understand Henry.”

“Thanks Helena,” Tina said wearily as she watched her friend leave her office while she struggled with her thoughts.



Bette stopped looking at her e-mail, closed her eyes, and wrestled with her emotions. She had been on edge all day, and even for a Monday that was rare to be on edge all day. She stared at her cell phone, desperate to get work done but feeling the need to connect with Tina.

She picked up the phone and hit speed dial waiting impatiently for Tina to answer.

“Hey you,” Tina said seductively.

“Hey,” Bette said clearly on edge.

“Oh no, what’s wrong?”

“What makes you think there’s anything wrong?”

“For starters you’re talking through your teeth, that’s a dead giveaway.”

“I’m just on edge,” Bette said as she rubbed her eyes tired from the day.

“You sound tired.”

“I am.”

“I can only guess based on the silence that you’re still at the Gallery, why don’t you go home and get some rest?”

“Where’s Angie tonight?” Bette asked in an effort to change the subject regarding her condition quickly.

“She’s having dinner with Kit at The Planet and then she’s taking her to my house. She said she’d stay there until I got home.”

“Leaving anytime soon?”

“Not likely, I haven’t gotten much done today.”

“Oh no?”

“No,” Tina said laughing. “I basically wasted the entire day obsessing about Angelica’s reaction to what I have to tell her.”

“Ah, worried about Henry then?”

“Wouldn’t you be?”

“I was,” Bette said sadly. “Believe me it’s not easy being in the hot seat.”

“I know,” Tina said as she doodled on a pad of paper in front of her.

“Why not just put it out of your mind for the night?”

“Because if it weren’t for the timely interruption I’d be the focus of her anger today and I hate when that happens.”

“Never thought you’d be so happy to see Kit huh?” Bette asked, leaning back closing her eyes picturing Tina laying beside her in bed with the morning light shining through on their skin.

“Helena doesn’t think I should tell her about Henry.”

“Well it’s a good thing that Helena’s not part of this equation.”

“Yeah,” Tina said half-heartedly wishing that she could follow Helena’s advice. “She said that there was no good that could really come of it.”

“Other then we’re honest with her, which we agreed we’d be, and she can know the entire story.”

Tina cringed not wanting to come out and say that she didn’t want to tell Angelica about Henry. After all, Bette had bared her soul and faced her greatest fear receiving the exact reaction she dreaded the most.

“So why do you seem on edge Babe?”

“Long day of missing you,” Bette said without hesitation.

“Really?”

“Oh, don’t let your head swell.”

Tina answered with just a sexy chuckle.

“I just,” Bette took a deep breath to steady her nerves. “I just feel like I can’t get you out of my mind.”

“Really?” Tina asked in a slightly huskier tone of voice. “Is that a bad thing?”

“Well as frustrated as I am now, yes it can be.”

“Frustrated?” Tina asked as she leaned back and took her lower lip between her teeth as she would if Bette were in front of her in an effort to flirt.

“Very,” Bette’s voice dropped an octave.

“Well we can’t have that can we?”

“What do you propose T?”

“I’m not sure, what is it that you need?”

“Um,” Bette said as she let a sexy chuckle escape her lips. “I think you know what I need.”

“Sad that we’re both at our offices, sitting in our leather chairs, wanting so desperately to touch one another.”

“You’re not helping.”

“Oh but I could,” Tina said teasing Bette.

“Don’t make statements you won’t back up.”

“Who said I wouldn’t back it up?” Tina asked in a now, full on, sexy voice.

“You’re still there, and I’m still here, wet and aching for you.”

Tina sat for a moment with a surprised look on her face. Bette had upped the ante between them escalating the conversation to an all out seductive one.

“How wet?”

“Wet enough,” Bette said in a sexy drawl.

“I think I’ll need more information to know what I’ll be walking in on in about 20 minutes.”

“So I’ve intrigued you enough to come to the Gallery?”

“Wasn’t that your plan?”

“Or for me to attack you in your office if Helena was gone for the day.”

“Well she isn’t,” Tina said smiling. “So I’ll have to take you in your office, where the mirrors can show every angle of your body.”

Bette slowly let a laugh out thinking of the areas she didn’t want exposed by the surrounding mirrors that decorated 2 walls in her office.

“Who said you’d be taking me? I believe you had your share yesterday before we had to cut it short and I missed my turn to please you.”

“You’re the one that wanted the secrecy Babe.”

“You’re wasting time,” Bette said casually.

“You haven’t given me an answer yet.”

“What was the damn question?” Bette was growing impatient that Tina hadn’t left yet to meet her. Tina smiled knowing she had turned the table on Bette and had her at a point she wanted her.

“The question Bette,” Tina said in a low, seductive voice, “was how wet are you?”

“Very.”

“Touch yourself and tell me exactly how wet you are.”

“Tina,” Bette said in frustration.

“Bette?”

“God you don’t play fair.”

“Who’s playing?”

Bette slowly spread her legs and slid her hand down between her thighs. The area was damp through her dress pants, the sensation of touching herself making the wetness spread.

“Very,” Bette said breathless.

“Don’t move a muscle,” Tina said in a low, hushed voice. “I’ll be there in 20.”

Tina snapped her phone shut as she left her desk just as it had been before she picked up Bette’s call. She grabbed her suit jacket and her purse from her desk. She quickly fumbled in it to find her keys and practically ran to the elevator pushing the down button numerous times.

“Come on,” Tina muttered as she waited looking at her watch. “I bet I can make it there in 15 if the fucking elevator would get here!”

The ding and opening of the doors prompted Tina to rush inside and hit the ‘ground floor’ button and then the ‘door close’ button immediately after numerous times in an effort to hurry the process along of getting to Bette.


Bette leaned back, her hand still between her legs, her thoughts on Tina driving through traffic completely aroused to get to her. She let a soft moan escape her lips as she struggled not to move her hand against herself.

She closed her eyes, willing the time to pass quickly, thinking of all the things she had planned for Tina.

It was late but Jordon, Bette’s assistant, typically stayed later when Bette did. When the main door to the Gallery opened, Jordon looked up knowing it was near closing and she’d have to excuse potential patrons telling them to come back during business hours. She smiled, however, at the familiar woman that walked through the door. The smile that greeted Jordon was nothing less then sincere.

“I haven’t seen you in a while,” Jordon said happily.

“No, I guess not, but it’s good to see you now. Can you point me quickly in the direction of the task master?”

“She’s in her office,” Jordon said smiling.

“Is the door open?”

“It should be, can you do me a favor though?”

“Anything.”

“Let my boss know I’m locking up and heading home.”

“Ah, I’ll do just that.”

“Thanks,” Jordon said gathering her things and walking out the main entrance after setting the alarm.


Bette was still leaned back, her hand between her thighs, and a smile that graced her face when she heard her office door slide open and the sound of heels on the wood floor inching their way toward her. She bit down on her lower lip, her eyes still closed, as she smiled knowing the purpose of the late night rendezvous.

Bette spread her legs further as she felt her chair being nudged from behind. She grabbed the soft, feminine hand that had grasped the arm of her leather chair and slowly dragged it to her aching center. She moaned as fingers made contact lightly with her clit through her thin fabric pants. When the hand pulled away and turned the chair around, Bette opened her eyes, locking gazes with an unexpected visitor.

“Oh my God, Kristen?”